trip
1 Americannoun
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a journey or voyage.
to win a trip to Paris.
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a journey, voyage, or run made by a boat, train, bus, or the like, between two points.
It's a short trip from Baltimore to Philadelphia.
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a single journey or course of travel taken as part of one's duty, work, etc..
his daily trip to the bank.
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a stumble; misstep.
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a sudden impeding or catching of a person's foot so as to throw the person down, especially in wrestling.
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a slip, mistake, error, or blunder.
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an error or lapse in conduct or etiquette.
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a light, nimble step or movement of the feet.
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Machinery.
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a projecting object mounted on a moving part for striking a control lever to stop, reverse, or otherwise control the actions of some machine, as a milling machine or printing press.
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a sudden release or start.
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a catch of fish taken by a fishing vessel in a single voyage.
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Slang.
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an instance or period of being under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, especially LSD.
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the euphoria, illusions, etc., experienced during such a period.
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any stimulating or exciting experience.
The class reunion was a real trip.
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any intense interest or preoccupation.
She's been on a nostalgia trip all week.
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a period of time, experience, or lifestyle.
Those early years in college were a bad trip.
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verb (used without object)
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trips,
present (3rd person singular)
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tripped,
past participle, past
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tripping
present participle
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to stumble.
to trip over a child's toy.
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to make a slip, error, or mistake, as in conversation or conduct.
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to go with a light, quick step or tread.
She tripped gaily across the room.
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to make a journey or excursion.
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to tip or tilt.
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Horology. (of a tooth on an escape wheel) to slide past the face of the pallet by which it is supposed to be locked and strike the pallet in such a way as to move the balance or pendulum improperly.
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Slang. to be under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, especially LSD (often followed byout ).
He tripped out on peyote.
verb (used with object)
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trips,
present (3rd person singular)
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tripped,
past participle, past
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tripping
present participle
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to cause to stumble (often followed byup ).
The rug tripped him up.
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to cause to fail; hinder, obstruct, or overthrow.
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to cause to make a slip or error (often followed byup ).
to trip up a witness by skillful questioning.
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to catch in a slip or error.
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to tip or tilt.
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Nautical.
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to break out (an anchor) by turning over or lifting from the bottom by a line tripping line attached to the anchor's crown.
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to tip or turn (a yard) from a horizontal to a vertical position.
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to lift (an upper mast) before lowering.
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to operate, start, or set free (a mechanism, weight, etc.) by suddenly releasing a catch, clutch, or the like.
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Machinery. to release or operate suddenly (a catch, clutch, etc.).
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to tread or dance lightly upon (the ground, floor, etc.).
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Archaic. to perform with a light or tripping step, as a dance.
idioms
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lay a trip on, to inflict one's preoccupations or obsessions on (another person).
Mother's been trying to lay a guilt trip on me about leaving home.
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trip the light fantastic, to go dancing.
noun
noun
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an outward and return journey, often for a specific purpose
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any tour, journey, or voyage
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a false step; stumble
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any slip or blunder
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a light step or tread
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a manoeuvre or device to cause someone to trip
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Also called: tripper.
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any catch on a mechanism that acts as a switch
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( as modifier )
trip button
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a surge in the conditions of a chemical or other automatic process resulting in an instability
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informal a hallucinogenic drug experience
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informal any stimulating, profound, etc, experience
verb
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to stumble or cause to stumble
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to make or cause to make a mistake or blunder
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to trap or catch in a mistake
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(intr) to go on a short tour or journey
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(intr) to move or tread lightly
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informal (intr) to experience the effects of LSD or any other hallucinogenic drug
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(tr)
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to activate (a mechanical trip)
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to switch electric power off by moving the switch armature to disconnect the supply
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Synonym Usage
Trip, expedition, journey, pilgrimage, voyage are terms for a course of travel made to a particular place, usually for some specific purpose. Trip is the general word, indicating going any distance and returning, by walking or any means of locomotion, for either business or pleasure, and in either a hurried or a leisurely manner: a trip to Europe; a vacation trip; a bus trip. An expedition, made often by an organized company, is designed to accomplish a specific purpose: an archaeological expedition. Journey indicates a trip of considerable length, wholly or mainly by land, for business or pleasure or other reasons, and is now applied to travel that is more leisurely or more fatiguing than a trip; a return is not necessarily indicated: the long journey to Tibet. A pilgrimage is made as to a shrine, from motives of piety or veneration: a pilgrimage to Lourdes. A voyage is travel by water or air, usually for a long distance and for business or pleasure; if by water, leisure is indicated: a voyage around the world.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tripsimple
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tripssimple
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have trippedperfect
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has trippedperfect
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am trippingprogressive
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are trippingprogressive
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is trippingprogressive
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have been trippingperfect progressive
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has been trippingperfect progressive
Past
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trippedsimple
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had trippedperfect
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was trippingprogressive
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were trippingprogressive
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had been trippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trip1
First recorded in 1350–1400; 1960–65 trip 1 for def. 12; Middle English trippen “to step lightly,” from Old French trip(p)er, from Middle Dutch; compare early Dutch trippen, Dutch trippelen (frequentative with -el ), akin to Old English treppan “to tread”
Origin of trip2
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; apparently special use of trip 1 in the sense of “a group moving together,” hence “gang, flock”
Explanation
When you trip, you stumble or lose your footing. As a noun, a trip is a journey or outing, like your trip to the library yesterday or your trip to Japan last summer. You can trip over a bump in the sidewalk, and you can also trip another person, or make them stumble (although it's not very nice to do so on purpose). The 14th-century meaning of the verb was "tread lightly and nimbly, dance, or caper." Experts aren't quite sure how trip got from that to "awkwardly stumble."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Then, on Aug. 17, she and her husband set off on the first leg of what would become a much longer journey to safety, aware that not everyone made the trip safely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are scheduled to visit Ceuta on Tuesday, on a trip coordinated with the government.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
One of the students was to be selected by Nasa for an all-expenses paid,19-day trip to watch Apollo 17's launch.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
He recently made a trip to Ace Hardware to mark it with its new designation: a big, fluorescent No. 80.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Then it was on a motoring trip me and my wife took to the Black Hills in 1926, the first year they made the Pontiac.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
ProPublica and the Tribune sent Paxton a spreadsheet detailing travel for which there was no record that he was on state business and asked him to provide additional information if the trips were not personal.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
In some cases, Paxton has taken business trips without a DPS detail, an analysis of records from the department and the attorney general’s office shows.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Either side of that are daunting Champions League trips to Atletico Madrid and Como.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Nasser Eddin said the next few days would be crucial in determining whether companies press ahead with planned trips and events or scale back their participation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
"You really should take your turn on the market trips, my friends. So many interesting things to see and useful things to trade for."
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Mitch Edelson, the club’s current owner, said he’s proud of that legacy and champions it today — but fears that it may have tripped some kind of content trigger at Meta.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Investors are getting tripped up on level and duration.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
His campaign was also briefly tripped up by court rulings banning his use of national symbols like Colombia's football jersey -- decisions that were later overturned.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
France was awarded a spot kick after Mbappé was tripped in the area, but a lengthy video review left him stewing for 3 minutes 11 seconds before he could actually shoot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
He left his biology class on Wednesday afternoon, walked right past the hallway they’d run down to escape Daley after he had tripped.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Crucial but shaky Mideast export estimates have been tripping up Wall Street analysts since the start of the war in late February.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
In 2024, he was injured after tripping outside a Senate lunch event, and earlier this year he was admitted to hospital for the flu.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
As always, there were some style missteps, and tripping on trains and jostling dress-jams when too many oversized gowns arrived at the same time at the bottom of the famous red carpet steps.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
That’s not the only sign that the DOJ can’t avoid tripping over its own feet in this campaign.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
I help Mom and Dad move some of the furniture around—it won’t look great if the entire congregation of Temple Judea sees me tripping over an ottoman and knocking myself unconscious.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
